Home Will Always be Where the Heart Is
by runawaygravity
Summary: Surviving a year apart is more complicated than it seems. Short chapters about Brennan's time in Indonesia, and her correspondence with her friends. Companion to Wish You Were Here.
1. Dizzy

**So, hi there :) That finale was the saddest episode ever, but also really inspiring. So, everything I come up with will be put here. However, the chapters will usually be related to each other, and in chronological order. I'll hopefully be posting regularly, but it's only three weeks until exams, so who knows how crazy things'll get up here ;)**

It went unspoken, and maybe unrealized, that there would be no one else. A year on opposite sides of the Earth, but there wasn't a single person that the two would see the way they see each other. Her awe and elation over finding a part of the missing link would be dampened by her worry for his safety, and as good as he felt about helping his country, he couldn't help wishing he was home with her. There had always been something tugging at his conscience, whispering to him that it was wrong for them to be so far apart. She didn't feel that way, but she missed him. He had grown to be the biggest part of her life, and to change everything in the way they had disturbed her logic.

There was one other thing, similar to the first, but different all the same. Another part of them that was unspoken, although surely not unknown. They would just have to hold onto that, and survive.


	2. Poke

_June_

"Dr. Brennan, a call for you."

The young assistant handed a satellite phone to the anthropologist, who, currently, was bent over the bones that they had collected in that day's dig. Barely looking up, she thanked her, and stretched as she moved away from the table.

"Hello, Dr. Temperance Brennan, who is this?"

"Dr. Bones! It's me, Parker!" Brennan frowned a little. "Parker? Does your mom know you're calling? It's very expensive to call Indonesia, you know," she chided.

"I know, but Dad said to call you and make sure you were okay. Have you seen any giant sn-" Brennan interrupted. "Parker," she said gently, "I would just like to let you know that I don't have a lot of time. However, I will answer some of your questions." She felt bad that she couldn't speak to Booth. Even though they had bent the rules a few times at the FBI, the Army didn't care if they had been the best crime solving partners in FBI history; emails and phone calls were for family only. Of course, that didn't mean Booth hadn't been able to finagle an email or a letter to her a few times, but they were few and far between.

"Okay, Bones. Um, what is the skeleton like? Does it look like a monkey? Is it a monkey?" Parker had a thing for primates. She should have figured.

"Well, it looks much like a very small human, but there are many differences. It does look a little like a primate, but it isn't a direct descendant. How did your father say he was, Parker?" She heard his slight sigh of disappointment. He must have been very set upon it being a monkey.

"He said he's okay. He said it was really hot, and that they don't have any good coffee, and to ask if you were okay, too, and to check on you. That's why I'm calling." There was an odd feeling in her chest as he told her what her partner had said.

"Well, Parker, I'm glad he's okay. Tell him that I'm doing alright, too, please. And tell your mom that if she would like it, I can reimburse her for any calls you make to me." She heard him shout her words to Rebecca, muffled as if he had it pressed to his shoulder. "Mom says thanks, Bones. I hope you do good with the skeleton, and don't get bitten by any mean snakes." Brennan laughed a little. "Thank you. Have a nice summer, Parker, and if we don't speak before hand, have a nice time at school. Don't hesitate to talk to Max if you need help with science or math."

"Thanks Dr. Bones!"

The line clicked, and all that was left was the buzz of static.


	3. Heartbeats

_July_

Sometimes, she would wake up, palms sweaty, heart racing. The sound of gunfire and exploding mortar filled her head when she slept, blood and death hiding in every shadow of her dreams.

But those were the night she actually slept. Most nights, she stayed in the bone tent, studying and taking notes on what could be the missing link.

If she had been back at the Jeffersonian, someone would've made her go home. Usually Booth. Sometimes Angela, when she was especially worn out, or Cam, if she had reason to believe Brennan wouldn't be going home.

But, usually, it was Booth.

_sorry for the short one, but next week's will be longer, promise ;)_


	4. Breathe

_August_

Oh, the pounding.

Light sensitivity.

Migraine.

Mild Nausea.

Exhaustion and lethargy.

She should _not_ have allowed Miss Wick to drag her to the local bar. She had ended up drinking something akin to bhang, which was a very, _very_ bad idea. The camp's coffee was…lacking. Brennan needed strong coffee or tea in order to overcome this hangover.

She didn't really understand how Daisy could be chattering happily about something she didn't really care about. Something to do with Dr. Giles, the entomologist from Caifornia.

"Miss Wick…please. Go work in the other tent."

_Please._

Daisy frowned, but left the tent without protest.

Oh, blissful silence.

_See, longer ;) and anyone who gets the Buffy reference gets a cookie :D_


	5. Breakeven

_September_

Miss Wick doesn't speak so much anymore. Perhaps she has evolved, learnt that her constant chatter was an annoyance to the rest of he group.

Brennan sighed.

Of course, that had taken over four months. She wasn't even sure that her reasoning was correct. A third of the year almost gone, they were all beginning to tire. The sun was too hot, too bright, and the locals unwelcoming.

She assumed that the way she was feeling was what Booth would call homesick.

She missed her apartment, her bed, her lab. But more than that, she missed the people; her friends, and her father.

Then, Brennan understood.

They had all separated, spread out across the world.

The center had not held.

And everything else was torn asunder.


	6. Ghost

_October_

"Hi Bones!"

Brennan smiled at Parker's enthusiastic tone, but the thought of his father made her stomach clench uncomfortably.

"Hello, Parker. How are you?"

She could almost hear him bouncing around whichever room he was in.

"Guess what today is!" She frowned, and glanced at the calendar on the wall of her tent. She didn't see anything particularly special about the little square. Perhaps it was his birthday.

"What is today?" Brennan asked, tentative.

"It's Halloween, Bones! Are you guys having a party down there? Are you dressing up?"

"Ah, yes, Parker. We are having a party, and everyone will be wearing costumes. What are you dressing up as?" She didn't like lying to him, but she figured Booth would relate it to the Christmas lies. Plus, she knew that Parker would be disappointed.

Brennan sat and listened as Parker chirped happily about the candy and costumes he had seen. He was her only link to Booth, although it wasn't as if she used him to gain access to her partner's (_former partner_, she reminded herself) life. She had come to realise that she really cared for Parker, and was pleased that he felt the need to call her while she was half a world away.

"Mom says I have to go now, Bones."

She sighed contentedly.

"Alright. Goodbye, Parker. Thank you for calling, and take care."

"I will! Bye, Bones!"


	7. Lost!

_November_

Thanksgiving had been a small affair.

Someone got the vegetables and turkey and everything else at the last minute, and the ones that celebrate it sat at a few of the mess hall tables that had been pushed together.

It was that night, squished between Daisy and Dr. Haller, that she realised something.

Although this was the same thing she had been doing, and planning on doing, seven years ago, it didn't hold the same excitement. She didn't miss the murder, but she missed helping that way. Saving the world one murderer at a time.

* * *

Daisy regarded Dr. Brennan warily, then turned to Lauren, the archaeological assistant.

"She isn't doing so well, is she?" Lauren whispered.

Daisy frowned and shook her head.

"I don't think it's what she expected it to be. She probably thought that she could dive back in, that the work could distract her from everything that happened back home."

"But it hasn't."

"No. And I don't really think it will."


	8. Airplanes

December

_Hey Sweetie,_

_Just writing to see how you're doing. How's that perspective coming along? Have you heard from Booth? How was your Christmas? Jack and I are doing great here. I can't believe it's possible to love a place this much; the Eiffel Tower, L'arch de triomphe, Musée d'Orsay, the Louvre, everything is just so amazing! Hodgins promised we'd come every year for our anniversary, and if that's the only travelling I do for the rest of my life, I think I'll be content._

_I heard from Cam that Clark and Wendell are helping the new FBI liaison, Agent Pond, but they've been bouncing around between artists and entomologists. Apparently it's extremely difficult to find artists that want to spend all day in a lab full of dead and decomposing bodies (you'd think they'd have figured that out on their own). I feel bad for Cam - Wendell's probably all worried about you and Booth, and Clark probably just wants him to shut up. It would get annoying after a while._

_I'm sure you'd want to stay in Maluku forever more, but I know a part of you wants to come home. We miss you, and surely Booth does, as well._

_Only five more months, Bren._

_Je t'aime, ma cherie._

_- Ange._


	9. Apologies

_Sorry this is late! It's been a busy week, and I didn't have time to write this one out. I promise, I'll have the next chapter up on time!_

* * *

_January_

Hi Ange,

Thanks for the letter, it was the highlight of my week. You know I usually go away for Christmas, so it helps that I'm already here. I didn't do much, but Parker called to wish me a merry Christmas, and he said that Booth was doing okay. He hasn't been injured, which is wondeful news. I'd been getting worried when he didn't at least email about what his group was doing for the holidays.

I'm well, and the dig is going splendidly. We've uncovered many more remains than we had first believed were here, and Miss Wick has been a lot of help, surprisingly.

I apologize for the delay in my response, but things have been very busy, and our mail arrived a few days later than expected.

I hope you and Jack are doing well. I'm not shocked that you like Paris so much, Ange, you've wanted to go for years, and I'm glad you finally got the chance to.

Happy New Year!

Love,

Bren.


	10. 23

February

_It really is beautiful here. If there's one place I've worked in I would come back, it's here. I don't believe I ever will though, because all the revelations are too painful. Or what if something happens to Booth? I could never come back here, or help the teams in Afghanistan ever again. I wish I was with him when that soldier approached him, I wish he'd never noticed. Maybe he would still be safe in D.C., not surrounded by danger and death. I can only imagine how he's feeling right now. Every time there is a report of a soldier's death, I worry for him. Surely if it were Booth dying, someone would alert me, and that placates my fear momentarily, but then the thought occurs that perhaps it was one of his friends, or his student._

_And I fear he will come back a changed person, that teaching other men to kill will destroy him. If he comes back…what if he is no longer Booth?_

_

* * *

_

_I think I'm going through Bones withdrawal or something. I saw a B&B video and almost started crying D: Probably been reading too many sappy fics lately.  
_


	11. Mushaboom

_February_

_

* * *

_

"Ooh, three months, three months, three months!"

Brennan groaned and buried her head in her hands.

"Daisy...I understand that you are excited. I, too, anticipate our homecoming. But your screeches are quite unnecessary, and I would appreciate it if you lowered your voice."

Daisy clapped her hands over her mouth and stopped bouncing around the hut they were sitting in. She had come a long way from being a loudmouthed squintern.

"Sorry, Brennan," she whispered. The older anthropologist gave her a feeble smile before standing and stretching her back.

"It's okay to be excited, Daisy, but the volume just wasn't appropriate. Has your team discovered anything else in the past few days?"

Daisy grinned. "Yes, we found more mandibular fragments. Almost enough to completely reassemble it."

"That's quite impressive. Tell Doctor Macilwaine he has done an extraordinary job of coordinaing your group." With that, Brennan gathered her tea and strolled back to her hut, content with their work, thoughts of home and love far away.

* * *

_I know, kinda bad. But I had fun writing it, and I like how it turned out. You guys will be getting another chapter sometime before Friday, because I won't be home next Sunday._

_Enjoy!_

_B_


	12. Fall

_March_

_

* * *

_

_You held me and taught me how,_

_I think I am ready now,_

_If this is the way it ends,_

_Then this is the way it's supposed to be._

_- The Way It Ends, Landon Pigg  
_

_

* * *

_

Brennan collapsed onto her cot, exhausted by the day's work. She barely had time to change her dust caked clothes before her dreams began playing in her sleeping mind.

_She smiled when she saw the familiar form sauntering down the mall. He was still in uniform, and Brennan was happy to think that he had come straight to the coffee cart just to meet her. A smile broke across Booth's face as he approached._

_"Hey, Bones."_

_Before even she knew what she was doing, Brennan had jumped up and flung her arms around him. Booth staggered slightly before returning the hug._

_Brennan shut her eyes tightly, inhaling the smell of sand, sweat, and Booth's cologne. She had never thought she would be acting so irrationally, especially around Seeley Booth, but she knew what she wanted now. She took a step back, and looked him in the eye before she spoke._

_"I made a mistake." She had planned an entire speech. A very rational speech, but it was gone. She had lost the carefully planned words and was, as Booth would say, legging it._

_Booth frowned at her. "I don't know what you mean, Bones."_

_She inhaled sharply._

_"That night, outside of Swe-"_

_"Hey, babe, who's this?"_

_Booth took a step back, then wrapped an arm around the woman._

_"This is Brennan, Hannah. My old partner. Bones, this is Hannah-"_

_Hannah stuck her hand out. "His girlfriend," she simpered._

_Brennan felt as if someone had struck her, and took away her breath. Forcing a smile, she shook the girl's hand._

_"It's nice to meet you, Hannah. I had better be going. Angela is expecting me to visit her, and I would like to arrive there before it gets too late. I'll see you later, Booth."_

_It took all she had to walk away calmly._

She sat up it her cot, breathing heavily.

_Just a dream, just a dream..._

_

* * *

_

_Run,_

_Is this to be our fate?_

_

* * *

_

_Early because I'll be gone for a week ;) Hope you guys have a great week!  
_


	13. Hell

_Hey! Back from the cottage, sunburnt but happy to be home. One of the last few chapters! Can't believe it's already been thirteen weeks since I started this. Just over a month until Bones is back!_

_

* * *

_

_April_

_

* * *

_

_Don't it always seem to go_

_You don't know what you got 'til it's gone?_

_-Big Yellow Taxi, Joni Mitchell  
_

_

* * *

_

Daisy sighed when Brennan glanced at her hut for the tenth time in five minutes.

"Something wrong, Brennan?" The older woman jumped and stared at her intern as if she had just realised she wasn't alone. Composing herself, Brennan cleared her throat.

"Of course not, Daisy. Why would you ask such a thing?" Daisy scoffed at the back-pedalling, but decided to let Brennan alone.

"Nothing, just wondering."

She knew, obviously, what Daisy was referring to. She had been acting antsy as of late, and her hands had been itching to begin packing her sparse belongings. Some of her clothes had already been folded and set aside, and she had begun to prepare their findings for travel. Never had Temperance Daesee Brennan ever been so anxious to return home.

* * *

_There will be two more chapters, the last of which including a song list (songs mentioned and the chapter title songs). I'm very sad that this has to end but if my laptop will cooperate, I may be able to rescue the first chapter of a possible Booth-centric companion from its perilous clutches. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!_


	14. Clocks

_May_

_

* * *

_

_I drew a line,  
I drew a line for you,  
Oh what a thing to do__  
-Yellow, Coldplay_

_

* * *

_

I'm home.

One entire year gone, a full revolution around the sun, three hundred and sixty five spins of the Earth, and now I'm home, back in D.C.

And, damn it, waiting for him is killing me.

The mall is crowded, and the coffee cart's business is booming, though neither are uncommon. What is uncommon, however, is that I am so anxious, and that I've been anxious for over a month. Anxious to be here, to see Booth, and now he is _late_. What if he's hurt? What if he's been held back? What if he's de- no, I refuse to think that. Absolutely not. Booth promised, and he doesn't break his promises. I ought to call him, just to make sure he remembers to come, just to check-

* * *

_And you know,_  
_For you I'd bleed myself dry._

* * *

Oooh, ittybitty cliffy! So, guys, what do you want? Happy ending? Or sad, closer-to-canon ending? Or sad-but-not-canon ending? Let me know!


	15. Inevitable

_It's over! I'm sorry it's a little late :)_  
_Thanks to all of the people who reviewed, alerted, and read! You guys are wonderful._

* * *

I find it incredibly odd how I can feel both the same and completely different at one time. The year that felt so long now feels like a week at most, though I am conscious of the fact that that isn't true. It makes me wonder what events lead to this, and how it changed me.

"Hey, Bones, let's get going! They aren't going to wait forever!"

I laughed, and stood up from my desk, pulling my coat from my chair.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Have you seen my bag?"

Booth grinned and held it out.

I frowned at him as I peered into the purse, then gasped when I saw the box.

* * *

Eight years ago, I was asked by the FBI to identify a skeletonised body. I kissed and slapped the agent I worked with, and vowed I would never work with him again.

Seven years ago, we tried again. It stuck.

Six years ago, I was kidnapped. He was the one that pulled me out of the car I was buried in.

Five years ago, he took a bullet for me, and died. Then he came back.

Four years ago, we discovered he had a brain tumor. He was in a coma for three days.

Three years ago, he wanted to give us a chance. I couldn't.

Two years ago, I left a small Indonesian island, and he left an army base in Afghanistan.

One year ago, I kissed him again.

Today, he proposed.

"Yes."

* * *

Muaha. I know, I didn't continue from where last chapter left off. I'm sorry, but this is what popped into my head.  
The next thing that's posted will be a songlist with the chapter names and songs used in chapters. Thanks to everyone!

love,

runawaygravity.


	16. Playlist

**Home Will Always Be Where the Heart Is** playlist

1. _Dizzy_ by Jimmy Eat World

2. _Poke_ by Frightened Rabbit

3. _Heartbeats_ by Jose Gonzalez

4. _Breathe_ by Michelle Branch

or _Breathe (2 AM)_ by Anna Nalick

5. _Breakeven_ by The Script

6. _Ghost_ by Parachute

7. _Lost!_ By Coldplay

8. _Airplanes_ by B.O.B. ft. Haley Williams

9._ Apologies_ by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

10. _23_ by Jimmy Eat World

11. _Mushaboom_ by Feist

12. _Fall_ by Something Corporate

_The Way It Ends_ by Landon Pigg

13. _Hell_ by Tegan and Sara

_Big Yellow Taxi_ by Joni Mitchell

14. _Clocks_ by Coldplay

15. _Inevitable_ by Anberlin

On a related note, the first chapter of the Booth Companion story, Wish You Were Here, is now up :)


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